Patriots, Politicians, and Underground Railroad Stationmasters...
History doesn’t always arrive with ceremony. Sometimes, it signs its name in the ledger and retires for the night. Such was the case on August 2, 1839, when a remarkable array of guests registered their names on the leatherbound pages of the Hanover Inn’s guestbook—which can be found today in the collections of the Rauner Special Collections Library at Baker Library.
Through its century-warped pages, this historic folio helps us identify a peculiarly vivid core sample of the early American republic: a cross-section of men who embodied its tensions, ambitions, contradictions, and ideals. Some were nearing the end of long public lives; others stood at the threshold of prominence, and still others represented a progressive thread that carries through today. What united them, briefly, was this: they all slept under the same roof, in a town built around a college, on a late summer night in 1839.
General Absalom Peters, of Lebanon, Connecticut
The day’s first entry is General Absalom Peters, Dartmouth Class of 1780, a veteran of the American Revolution. Peters registered his residence as Connecticut, where he lived as a prominent citizen after decades of farming and civic engagement. At 85, he was both a survivor and a symbol of the founding era. His family carried forward the same ideals of his generation: one son, Rev. Dr. Absalom Peters (Dartmouth class of 1816), became a prominent clergyman and missionary leader. Another served in state affairs. That August visit to Hanover (possibly a return to his alma mater?) would be one of his last public appearances. He died just months later, in March 1840.
Gen. Absalom Peters' signature in the Hanover Inn guestbook, August 2, 1839.
Governor John Page of Haverhill, New Hampshire
After Absalom Peters in our historic register, and after a man named David Sumner, whose house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the name of John Page, U.S. Senator from Haverhill, New Hampshire. Just months into his Governorship of New Hampshire, a role he held until 1842, Page represented the country’s rising populist impulse: favoring local enterprise, agrarian values, and individual dignity over centralized control. As sitting governor of the state, his presence in Hanover must have been noticeable!
Governor John Page, U.S. Senator and then-Governor of New Hampshire, signed the ledger during his term in office. He championed local enterprise and agrarian values.
Governor John Page’s signature, recorded while in office.
Lieutenant Horace B. Sawyer of Burlington, Vermont
Further down the guestbook’s entries on August 2, 1839, we find the following: “Lieut. Sawyer, U.S.N., Burlington, VT” This seems to be Horace B. Sawyer, a veteran naval officer who had served aboard the USS Constitution during the War of 1812 and was, in 1839, serving under orders from the War Department during the Canadian disturbances—a lesser-known moment in North American revolutionary history. These disturbances and conflicts were set upon Upper and Lower Canada, where reformers rose up against colonial rule.
Though quickly quelled by British forces, their aftershocks reverberated across the border. In northern New England and upstate New York, American sympathizers launched a series of cross-border raids known as the Patriot War. During this period, Sawyer was reportedly thrown from a sleigh while on official duty near the northern frontier. His presence at the Hanover Inn shortly thereafter may have marked a recovery stop or official travel break. Whether convalescing or passing through, he represented a slice of regional tension and the ghost of a broader geopolitical clash unfolding just north of the Dartmouth Green.
Lieutenant Horace B. Sawyer, veteran of the War of 1812 and participant in the Patriot War.
Lt. Horace B. Sawyer, U.S. Navy, signs in from Burlington, VT.
Lieutenant Henry Kendrick, of West Point, New York
Listed just after Sawyer is Lt. Henry Kendrick, a West Point instructor and geologist whose training placed him at the intersection of military science and fieldwork. He appears to arrive in the company of the next man in our list (Lt. William Wallace Smith Bliss), which, when paired with Lt Sawyer of the U.S.S. Constitution, seems to suggest official business. However, Kendrick was a native of Lebanon, NH (as was Bliss’ father), which also might suggest a brief vacation from West Point to reconnect with his family.
Lieutenant Henry Kendrick, geologist and West Point instructor, reconnecting with his native Lebanon, NH.
Lieutenant William Wallace Smith Bliss, of West Point, New York
Immediately following Kendrick is Lt. William Wallace Smith Bliss, rising military star. Bliss was a standout student–a top West Point graduate, polyglot, and mathematician. At this particular moment in his life, he was teaching at West Point, but in a few short years he would be in Mexico serving as Maj. General Zachary Taylor’s Chief of Staff. He served in this position competently enough that by 1848 he was married to Zachary Taylor’s daughter and would go on to serve as his personal secretary after his election to the White House. One year later, Dartmouth College would award the brilliant scholar and military strategist with an honorary degree, which he would proudly accept. Like his colleague Lt. Henry Kendrick, Bliss had family in Lebanon, NH, which may be partly why he was in Hanover on this day.
Lieutenant William Wallace Smith Bliss, future Chief of Staff to Zachary Taylor.
William W. S. Bliss adds his name to the Hanover register.
Timothy K. Blaisdell, of Haverhill, New Hampshire
Further down the ledger is a particularly interesting entry: Timothy K. Blaisdell of Haverhill, NH. Mr. Blaisdell was a tavern keeper in Haverhill, operating the Bliss Tavern—which still stands today—but more significantly, Blaisdell operated that tavern as a station along the Underground Railroad, shepherding fugitive slaves along the northern stretch of the route to freedom in Canada.
Far from hidden or secluded, the Bliss Tavern stood right next to the courthouse in the very center of town. It was, by all outward appearances, an ordinary establishment—yet within its walls lay a secret quarter-mile tunnel running beneath School and Court Streets, built to safely move freedom seekers from the tavern to a safer house at 96 School Street. From there, the route extended north toward Littleton and into Canada, following the old Coös Turnpike.
Blaisdell's abolitionist sympathies were no secret. In 1835, he was listed among the founding members of the New Hampshire Anti-Slavery Society. According to oral histories, Blaisdell was once "rotten-egged" on the Boston Common for delivering a public anti-slavery address—a humiliation he later recalled as a source of personal pride.
Timothy K. Blaisdell, tavern keeper and operator of a key Underground Railroad station in Haverhill, NH.
Timothy K. Blaisdell, abolitionist, signs in at the Hanover Inn.
There’s a strong record among Underground Railroad primary sources that suggests Haverhill, NH was an important stop on the journey. It’s interesting then to note that the Guest Ledger records the check-in of Calvin Ellis Stowe, just one day later. A Dartmouth graduate, scholar, and abolitionist, Stowe was a professor at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, and an early advocate for public education. Just two years earlier, Stowe married Harriet Beecher, the author whose book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, mainstreamed the abolition movement. While there’s no written record of an encounter between Stowe and Blaisdell, their shared beliefs—and shared moment in Hanover—seem to suggest a meeting of interested parties.
Calvin Ellis Stowe, abolitionist scholar and early public education advocate.
A Living Ledger of the American Story
Seen together, the names in the Hanover Inn’s guestbook from August 1839 form a portrait of a country at crossroads. A patriot from the founding generation. A governor on the rise. Military officers navigating border conflicts and homecomings. A pair of abolitionists conspiring to guide the enslaved to freedom. Hanover has always been an important intersection of intellect, action, and inspiration. Here it bears true in ink, on the pages of our own history.
Guestbook entry from August 2, 1839, courtesy of Rauner Special Collections Library, Baker Library.